Sorting devices of this general type exist in many different embodiments and may be used for sorting discs of widely differing kinds. A common field of application is coin sorting. In this field of application the discs are constituted by coins and their identities are represented by the denominations of the coins and may be ascertained by detecting the dimensions, shape, weight, electrical properties or some other characteristic of the coins by which the denominations differ from one another. There are also fields of application other than coin sorting, such as sorting of tokens, labeling discs, electrical and optical filter discs, coil cores, and so on. Still another field of application is sorting of gaming counters and the like, and the invention will be elucidated by the description of an embodiment which is particularly adapted for the sorting of gaming counters. However, the applicability of the invention is not limited to the sorting of gaming counters, but also embraces sorting of other discs or disc-like objects.
A feature common to most known sorting devices is that they stack the sorted discs. The sorting is usually accomplished under the action of gravity; upon the transfer of the discs from the sorting track, the discs are allowed to drop into a stacking well in which they are collected and from which the stacks are withdrawn downwardly or laterally. This arrangement has some advantages, but is also disadvantageous at least in one respect. This is because it is difficult to withdraw discs, individually or in groups, from the stack without disarranging the stack of discs or without interfering with or being troubled by continued supply of additional discs to the stack from the sorting track. Thus, if a group of discs is withdrawn laterally from the lower portion of the stack, the weight of the upper remaining portion of the stack may make it difficult and physically trying to pull out the group of discs, and when the upper portion of the stack then drops, the discs tend to become disarranged, e.g. by placing themselves edgewise in the well. If discs are withdrawn from the upper end of the stack, new discs arriving from the sorting path tend to interfere with the withdrawal and/or to assume an improper position in the shaft.
In the sorting device according to the invention, on the other hand, provision is made to ensure that discs may easily be withdrawn from the stack, without addition of new discs to the stacks being hampered or causing inconvenience. The location where stacked discs are withdrawn and the location where intermingled discs are charged into the receptacle may easily be disposed at the same level, e.g. at the level of the gaming table in the case the invention is used for the sorting of gaming counters, whereby ergonomic requirements may easily be met. These and other advantages are attained by constructing the device in accordance with the claims.
The invention also relates to devices useable to readily separate and remove predetermined number of discs or chips from a stack made by, for instance, a sorting device in accordance with the invention.